


Feudal Depression

by birdswithoutbees



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Battle Scenes, Blood Loss, Church of Seiros (Fire Emblem), Drabble Collection, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Garreg Mach Monastery (Fire Emblem), Gen, Guns, Lampshading that Byleth can teach students even if they have no skill in what they're teaching, London, Mentions of Prostitution, Pre-Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Vampire Bites, Vampire Hunter Hubert von Vestra, battle strategy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:41:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26072809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birdswithoutbees/pseuds/birdswithoutbees
Summary: A collection of drabbles I wrote during the first year after FE3H's release!Chapter 1: Claude's arrival at Fodlan's LocketChapter 2: Claude's wyvern gets shot down and Lorenz attempts to save Claude's lifeChapter 3: A peek in on one of Felix's early days at Garreg MachChapter 4: Hubert playing tactician in a small battle (BE route)Chapter 5: Victorian AU Vampire Hunter Hubert von Vestra
Relationships: Lorenz Hellman Gloucester & Claude von Riegan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 4





	1. At the Foot of Greatness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief drabble about how I imagine Claude's arrival at the Alliance went, featuring his first meeting with Judith.

Fodlan's Locket. Despite how often those around him spoke of it, this was his first time seeing it in person. Though the cloudy night sky made it hard to pick out the fortress's details, even shrouded in darkness the mighty fortress's presence cowed any Almyran hoping to break through. Specks of light broke through the darkness, signs of House Goneril guards keeping watch even at this late hour. Indeed, there was little hope of sneaking by undetected... But his plan was never to sneak through the fortress. No, he planned to walk right on up and _ask_ to be let through.

Though he was but a lone boy approaching the gaping maw of Fodlan, the guards reacted as though he was a threat all the same. They didn't swarm him like they would have were he armed and armored, but they still blocked his path with their weapons. Though the boy couldn't see the guards' faces beneath their helmets, he was sure they were glaring at him.

"Quite the warm welcome, huh?" Claude waved, his voice light and cheery. Sadly, the guards did not return the gesture-- they continued to cross their weapons in front of him and glare silently. "Seriously? I don't even get a 'hello'?" _Tough crowd,_ the boy thought to himself. _I'm sure I can crack 'em, though._ "Do you even know who I am?"

"...Who are you?" Despite the complete and utter lack of friendliness in the guard's voice, Claude's heart soared. _Got 'em._

"Wait, seriously?" He put on a shocked face. "Are you really Alliance soldiers? I can't _believe_ that there's people in the Alliance who don't know who I am..." He brought a hand up to hide his face as he shook it from side to side. "That's just... Wait!" His hand darted away from his face to jab a finger at the guards. "You aren't secretly Kingdom or Empire spies, are you?!"

The guards hackles went up, their grip on their weapons tightening. Claude didn't flinch, however, for while these guards may not know who he was there was no way they were fool enough to instigate worse aggressions with Almyra by striking down an unarmed child.

"It wouldn't be good if _someone_ found out there were spies in Fodlan's Locket..." He didn't specify who that 'someone' could be; it was more ominous that way.

"Yeah? And who are you going to tell?" One of the guards took a step forward, causing Claude's confidence to waver. They wouldn't strike down an unarmed child, right...? Unless...

He hadn't... actually stumbled across some spies, had he?

He swallowed. This hadn't been part of the plan. But it wasn't as though he could just turn tail and run, either... He already _was_ running, after all. "Who do you think?" He shot back, trying to continue to appear composed despite the bullets he was sweating.

The spy swung her lance forward, severing some of Claude's hair from his beautiful head. He couldn't hide his reaction this time, falling back onto his butt with a yelp.

However, his wasn't the only yell. From behind the two spies came another voice, however, this one wasn't scared. It was furious. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" The spy that hadn't approached Claude stumbled as he tried to whirl around, but a strong hand on his shoulder prevented him from moving. Standing behind him was one of the most terrifying women Claude had ever seen... But, her glare wasn't directed at Claude. No, it was directed at the person that had attacked him.

Though he floundered for a few seconds, only able to stare ahead in shock, words eventually bubbled up out of his mouth before he could fully weigh their pros and cons, "Ma'am! I was just about to go find you!" He jabbed his finger at the two spies. "They're spies, ma'am! They aren't even from the Alliance!"

The spy still standing in front of him stiffened, glancing between Claude and the woman before lunging once more-- this time, thrusting her lance at the Alliance woman rather than Claude.

The woman yanked the other spy in front of his ally's lance, pulling him with ease that might make one think she had both her hands on him instead of just one. A horrifying scream escaped through his mouth alongside a spurt of blood... and he died. Just like that.

Claude could only stare in numb shock at the body as the fight between the Alliance woman and the spy continued, not able to truly process anything more. Though he had seen corpses before, having attended numerous funerals of fallen Almyran generals, he had never before seen the moment someone died. Another blood curdling scream rang out, and Claude lifted his head just in time to see the other spy fall lifeless to the ground.

Though his eyes saw the Alliance woman step over her corpse, and though his ears heard her trying to speak to him, the only thing Claude was aware of was the darkness that soon encompassed all of his senses as he fell out of consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this shortly after beating Claude's route, and at the time I wasn't too satisfied with it - I felt that I leaned too hard in on making Claude seem naïve and reckless in an attempt to portray him as younger and made him hard to recognize as his character. I also wasn't satisfied with how easily the spies revealed themselves, lol. All in all, I had a lot of problems with this drabble which was why I didn't initially upload it anywhere... But returning to it a year on, it's not actually that bad huh? Aren't you supposed to dislike your work MORE after time passes?!


	2. That's Rough, Buddy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by my own playthrough of GD! I often had Lorenz and Claude standing next to each other for Support point reasons, so... here they are, suffering together.

Claude's wyvern was unable to stop herself from yowling in pain, frantically nipping at her wings. But even if she could reach the arrows embedded deep within, that wouldn't stop the pain... Nor the upcoming demise of her and her master who lay beside her, having fallen out of his saddle when she crashed into the ground. Though his own limbs could have still worked fine, he couldn't run. Blood dribbled down his forehead, and were it not for the labored heaving of his chest one would be forgiven for thinking he had perished upon hitting the ground. But, alas, he wouldn't be so lucky as to experience a quick death.

Through the pounding of his head, the leader of the Alliance struggled to regain consciousness. His body was on fire with the burning need to _get up_ and _run_ , but just as Claude's mind was about to grasp the edge of a thought another wave of pain coursed through him and sent his consciousness spiraling back into nothing.

Running out of energy to keep up it's fight, Claude's breathing slowed. At this rate, he would die before any enemy could pierce him through. Perhaps one could consider it a blessing, for him to pass away with none but a wyvern to bear witness to his final moments... Alas just as it seemed as though he would die without a single member of his own species by his side, the sound of hooves echoed through the clearing. It seemed as though the cavalry had finally arrived... but, instead of gloating over his corpse the person on the horse dismounted and ran to his side shouting his name. 

"Claude! _Claude!_ No, not like this! **_Claude!_** " This person, his ally who had fought by his side in countless battles, knelt by his side and stared in disbelief. After everything they had been through together, after all the dreams they had shared for the future they both fought for... How could the leader of the Alliance just _fall_ like this? No. Lorenz Hellman Gloucester wouldn't allow it.

He may have a greater proficiency in the dark arts, but the Professor had made sure Lorenz could at least cast a basic healing spell. Perhaps it was too basic to save Claude's life, but Lorenz had to at least _try._

Focusing healing magic in his hand, Lorenz caressed Claude's head as he searched for the source of the blood draining out of him. Finding what felt like the wound, Lorenz loosed the spell from his hand. Again and again, he summoned magical power to siphon into Claude's wound. With each spell, Lorenz could feel himself grow a little weaker. At this rate, Lorenz's magic would sputter out; unable to do anything but prolong Claude's life by a scant few moments. "This just won't _do..._ " He muttered desperately, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to drag yet more magical energy out of his own body to send into Claude's. 

Summoning up the most powerful healing art he could muster, Lorenz could feel beneath his hand that the bleeding had stopped, but Claude's still labored breathing wouldn't let Lorenz relax just yet. With his own breathing growing haggard as well, however, Lorenz was beginning to realize that no matter how hard he tried his magic alone wouldn't be enough to ensure Claude's survival. Though he tried to continue casting of the most basic healing spell, the spell was fizzling out before it could even leave his hand. If the noble had known this was going to happen... He would have tried harder to master his faith so that a single spell wouldn't drain him to the point of uselessness. 

To Lorenz's horror, with no more magic supporting Claude's recovery his breathing began to slow. Lorenz opened his mouth, but he could muster no words. What was the point of trying to speak, anyway? It wasn't like Claude would hear him in the state he was in. 

Lorenz's head fell forward, but before he could allow despair to overtake him the bushes at the edge of the clearing rustled. His head jerked back up, but any hope that it was Marianne or perhaps Professor Manuela were dashed before it could even form. Standing before him was unmistakably a man garbed in the colors of the Adrestian Empire. 

"So, _this_ is how I fall..." Lorenz whispered. He had always hoped to die peacefully of old age in his own bed with his beloved laying next to him. Though the war had made him accept that might not come to pass, he thought he would at least go out in a blaze of glory that would pave the way to a brighter future... Flinching, he realized that the brighter future he wanted had been _Claude's_ future. Not only was he to die too weak to fight back, he was to die knowing that because of _him_ the Alliance, no, all of Fodlan was lost.

The Empire knight rushed him and Lorenz dropped his head so that at the very least, the last thing he saw wouldn't be a ruffian. Claude's wyvern let out one final terrible screech before it was forever silenced by the cruel cut of a blade, Lorenz's heart rate spiking as he stared down at Claude's lifeless form knowing he was next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started writing this I initially intended to have them survive by the hair of their teeth... But writing them dying was more fun, oops.


	3. A Moment in the Life of Swordboy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was originally a RP starter, but it holds it's own as a drabbly one-shot. It's just Felix going about his morning during his days as a schoolboy; hope you enjoy!

Young nobles across the continent of Fódlan dreamed of some day walking through Garreg Mach's hallowed halls as one of the students of it's renowned Officers Academy. Around this time each year a select few of those noble children, and indeed some already well into their adult life, would find their dreams realized... provided their families paid forward a hefty donation to the main branch of the Church of Seiros whom made Garreg Mach their headquarters. 

If they have the coin, even a commoner could get into Garreg Mach. It was through this stipulation that the Officers Academy persisted for centuries, carrying the high reputation of being both accessible and extremely high-class. There were few who would besmirch the good name of Garreg Mach, and those who did were quickly silenced by the Church. Garreg Mach, the Officers Academy, the Church of Seiros... They all existed for the good of Fódlan. If someone couldn't understand that, then they deserved to be punished as the Church decreed.

Well, Felix couldn't say he considered himself particularly devout nor could he say he particularly cared about all the long-dead bigshots who once trained in the same halls he now walked. The only thing he cared about was the results the Academy promised to give him. And so far? He wasn't impressed. The two most senior teachers at the Academy both specialized in magic over brawn, and the new guy? Felix wouldn't be surprised if he quit before the year was up. He could talk about his theories of swordplay and magic all he wanted, but the fact of the matter was a good combat instructor could actually... Y'know, hold their own in combat. 

Felix sighed as he walked down the monastery's steps, into the marketplace below. Religion shmiligion, history shmistory. This Officers Academy had been nothing but a disappointment so far, making sure the last of his childhood dreams were squashed under the weight of the stone the academy was made from. As if the shitty teachers weren't enough, literally everyone he knew had to attend this year as well. He had known Sylvain was going, but Ingrid? _The boar?_ Ugh. The Officers Academy had better start shaping up, or else he was going to have to return home to his shitty old man. Damn it, he really was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He walked up to the only good thing about Garreg Mach, the one thing that could cheer him up when he was in a bad mood... The weapons shop. Their current stock wasn't much, but the owner insisted they'd be getting better stock within the next few months. 

Apparently, the Officers Academy had made a deal with the shops directly outside the monastery. Every year, their stock would change to match the progress of the students in the Officers Academy. Apparently it was so the kids that enrolled in the Officers Academy without any prior weapons training didn't accidentally decapitate themselves or something. Felix thought that such fools should be weeded out by natural selection, but he supposed he could understand how it would be bad for the Church of Seiros if a plethora of noble children died under their watch every year.

While the stock wasn't much, at least the shopkeeper was good conversation. They knew their way around the sword, at least. Now that things were starting to settle down at the Academy, students having finished moving in, Felix had a mission: To get the shopkeep to agree to a duel with him. He had asked before, but been denied. The shopkeep said something about not fighting kids in the Officers Academy anymore after an "incident..." 

Today either they would stop being cagey and tell Felix what the incident was, or would agree to duel him. Felix wouldn't accept any other option, and would badger the shopkeeper until they closed for the day if that was what it took. Spotting the glimmer in his eye, the shopkeeper sighed and put aside the sword they had been sharpening. It was going to be a long day.


	4. A Battle Fit for a Vestra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this because I wanted to put myself in Hubert's strategic mind. After writing this, I ended up RPing Hubert for several months because I didn't want to ever stop writing him lol. Alas, special interests change...

Hubert frowned, surveying the battlefield. There were far less troops than intelligence had suggested-- indeed, less than half what his most trusted spies had told him. Though he knew this was likely bad news, he wasn't sure what kind of bad news it was. Was the enemy planning a surprise attack from the side? Or perhaps the enemy had managed to circle around them and would come from the rear... It was unlikely that the majority of their troop had retreated, given the importance of the location. That meant it was equally as unlikely that they had abandoned the area to launch a surprise attack on the imperial army's base while Hubert and his men were away.

Confirming in his mind that it made the most sense for the missing troops to still be nearby, Hubert tried to estimate how long would they wait to make their appearance on this battlefield. The dark knight strained his eyes as he tried to pick out the enemy's commander. Unable to spot anyone that looked so well armored as to be a commander, Hubert decided that likely meant they would make their appearance soon. No sane commander would leave their men without a leader for long, after all. As for which side the reinforcements would come from... 

Well, if he was the commander he knew exactly what he would do. "We're to be surrounded on all sides." He declared. Some of the soldiers looking at him in surprise, having just been gloating to each other about how this would be an easy victory. How unfortunate it was that war meant he couldn't be choosy with the intelligence of his footmen, else he would never have allowed such unaware fools to work under him. "Support squad, warp some of our archers up into their walls then standby with the rest of us... Except for air squad, which I want to charge forward and provide backup for our archers before looping back around here when the reinforcements show up." 

The mages whom had been with Hubert the longest reacted first, archers disappearing in swathes of light around them. It had been Hubert's first time working with the pegasus knights lent to him by the Professor, but thankfully it seems they were as well trained as anyone else the Professor had recommended him. Good. 

He would prove to the Professor that their trust had not been misplaced when they asked him to take care of this mission on his own. He had, after all, been a perfectly good strategist before their return from their five year siesta. Even if, admittedly, his pride stung a little seeing how much progress the Professor had made in such a short time in comparison to Hubert's five years alone. He knew Lady Edelgard didn't think any lesser of him, that the Professor was just that amazing... Nonetheless, this battle would be a fine opportunity to prove that he wasn't inferior to the Professor; just a bit less lucky.

An arrow flew past Hubert's face, landing in the shoulder of an unfortunate member of his battalion. Hubert smirked, readying a counter-attack. If that first miss was any indicator, it seemed his luck was about to go up.


	5. Cherry-red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the time of writing this summary, this piece is likely the piece I'm most proud of. I hope you enjoy vampire hunter Hubert von Vestra's story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

More and more unsavory creatures were making their way into London these days thanks to the rainy season. Though they had a blockade set up to, ideally, ascertain the humanity of all who wanted to enter London... The fact of the matter was the Queen didn't trust them enough to entrust the whole of London in their capable hands, and the few stations she did allow them to set up had their visibility drastically reduced by the rain. Hubert really didn't understand what was going through Queen Victoria's head-- did she not understand that Lady Edelgard had the best interests of every Londoner at heart? Truly baffling.

Well, if the Queen wouldn't grant them legal means to protect all of London... Hubert would just have to take matters into his own hands, as usual. Neither the Queen nor the Duchess he served need ever know of his nightly patrols and judgements, for he did not act out of a desire for recognition. Nay, he acted due to his strong belief in Duchess Edelgard's ideals. 

A London free of the monsters that lurked in the night, where no one had to leave in fear of some day being used as a meal for a demon... Until she had eradicated every last one of those blood suckers, Lady Edelgard would never rest. And as her loyal butler, neither would Hubert. 

Of course, their work wouldn't be done once the vampires were eradicated... There was another evil lurking in the shadows, one far more insidious and yet... They had no choice but to ally with for now. How utterly tragic. 

Such thoughts had to wait, however. The stray woman he had been watching was being led away by a man-- could that be his mark? Hubert followed them, sticking close to the shadows to avoid their notice.

According to Hubert's research, there had been a string of disappearances in the red light district. The sad reality was despite all of these disappearances being under mysterious circumstances... Because those that had disappeared were women who worked in the industry of sex, no one cared save for others of their kind. Hubert didn't consider himself some sort of big-hearted savior of the neglected, but he _did_ consider himself smart enough to recognize the work of a cunning vampire when he saw it. If he just happened to also save those poor women just trying to survive... Well, all the better.

The woman was being led into a dark alley... How cliché. Hubert barely felt sorry for her, falling for such an obvious trap. He still sprung into immediate action when she suddenly went limp in the "man's" arms, the vampire revealing itself for what it was with a shine of teeth. His Colt Peacemaker came out in a flash, a shot roaring towards the vampire's head... And ricocheting harmlessly off the alley wall.

Hubert pressed deeper into the shadows, but it was too late. Perhaps it had been too late from the moment he began following them. Even with the enhanced speed that came with being a vampire, that dodge was _too_ fast... Hubert had been careless. 

The clawed hand on his back gripping his spine almost had Hubert resigning himself to death... Almost. In a last ditch effort to survive, he angled his revolver down and shot the vampire in the foot. Though the only fatal damage a gun could do to the vampire was to the head, the hands and feet healed slower than any other part of a vampire. Of course, they still healed much faster than the same wound would on a human... But, at least this way, Hubert would have a fighting chance if he could just pull himself out of the vampire's grasp...

The vampire, however, had vastly different plans for how this encounter would go. Hubert could only appreciate the howl of pain that escaped it when he shot it for the briefest of moments, for in the next instant the vampire had chomped down on Hubert's neck. It didn't hurt in the way Hubert had always expected, at least not at first. But then something searing hot was coursing through his veins that Hubert couldn't help crying out over. 

His entire vision went red, and he hardly felt himself fall to the ground when the vampire released him. He was hardly even aware of the way he writhed, hardly aware of anything other than the searing fire coursing through his veins... He didn't even have the wherewithal to understand why he was ablaze, just that he _was_ and it _hurt_ and he wanted it to _stop._ But it didn't stop, no, it only got _worse._ He screamed and writhed and _screamed_ but nothing granted him relief.

Through his agony, only one thing made it through to him. The cruel laughter of the vampire mocking him. The sheer hatred Hubert felt in that moment was unlike anything he had ever felt before, and his vision cleared for a moment to emblaze the vampire's derisive expression into his memory for all eternity... And, also, give him the chance he needed.

Though he was completely overtaken by pain, he still had a duty. To the woman lying unconscious on the ground, to this vampire's previous victims, to all the people of London... And to Duchess Edelgard. For her, he could work through anything. In that moment, with thoughts of his Lady close to heart, his gun became an extension of himself and he moved it effortlessly into position. The shot rang out before Hubert's brain could even catch up with his actions, and before the vampire could react. He had slain the demon... but his arm fell helplessly to his side afterwards, and he was once again overtaken by pain. 

He fought viciously against his remaining human instincts to just lay there and wait to die. He couldn't die, not yet. If he were to die now, before Duchess Edelgard's dream was realized... He would never forgive himself. He had to get out of here-- he had to get help. He could still be saved, he was sure of it. 

Weakly, vision still blood red, Hubert abandoned his gun at the scene; he didn't have the strength to re-holster it. Though his lady would rain a hefty punishment down on him for losing such a valuable weapon, he had to value his life over the material. Using his elbows, Hubert dragged himself out the alley and down the street. He had to find someone, anyone... But who would be out at this time of night? No one qualified to help him, that was for sure.

Helplessly, he continued to drag himself from street to street hoping someone, anyone would see him and call for help... But no one ever did, and no help ever came. Exhausted, his body finally gave up and succumbed to the burning pain within. His final thought before consciousness left him was an apology to his Lady.


End file.
